From Romania with Love
by Massani
Summary: "Charlie had been with girls of all shapes and sizes, from different countries and backgrounds—but this one was different. He didn't just want her. He needed her."
**Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
** **Position:** Beater 2 for Holyhead Harpies **  
** **Prompts:  
** Harpy. 2551-2750 words  
3\. (dialogue) "Sometimes I really dislike you."  
5\. (quote) 'All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us' - JRR Tolkien  
 **Word Count:** 2647

 **Thanks to Chloe and Lizzie for beta'ing!**

* * *

"Charlie! Wait up, mate."

Charlie turned to see Alex running towards him. His cloak was only half on his shoulders and scraps of paper spilled out from the tower of books he carried. It was ironic, really: Alex was a genius, but he was always running behind everyone else.

"Come on. We're going to be late," Charlie shouted back at him. "You know what Laurenitu's like. If we're late to work again he'll skin us and feed us to the Horntails."

Charlie slowed his pace so that Alex could catch up. "How are you always late?" Charlie asked when the telltale sound of wheezing announced Alex's arrival.

"I overslept," Alex said. "I was up late looking at some stuff about Norwegian Ridgebacks. Did you know that their fangs are venomous?" Alex's eyes were wide with excitement. "Ridgebacks eat water mammals, which are usually slippery, but one scratch of this fang paralyses prey so it floats to the surface and then they can just pick them off!"

"Yeah, I do have some firsthand experience with Norwegian Ridgebacks, remember?" Charlie said with a grin.

"Oh, yeah." Alex looked a little deflated. "Norbert, wasn't it?"

"Norberta, Hagrid might be a fan of dragons, but he wasn't massively eager when it came to checking the dragon's sex."

"Well, to be fair, do you want to stare at a dragon's balls?" Alex grinned at Charlie.

"Not at all, but this particular dragon didn't actually have any." Charlie looked over to grin at Alex, but he had stopped walking. "Alex, mate, you alright?"

Alex remained silent; he looked as though he'd been hit with a stunning spell. It wasn't like him to be so unresponsive. Normally the challenge was getting him to shut up.

"Are you really so out of breath that you have to take a break walking down the street? You should get your head out those books more often and come get some exercise. Play Quidditch with me and the other guys, or something."

"What? So I could get shown up by the England hopeful?"

Relieved, Charlie retreated until he was next to his friend and followed his gaze. "What are you looking at?" Charlie asked, peering through the crowd. It was just the same as any other Romanian street as far as he could tell: classic stone buildings covered in intricate carvings and the usual crowds of people scurrying about on market day.

"Can't you see her?" There was awe in Alex's voice.

"See who?"

"There, in the café. She's reading a book with a red cover."

Charlie looked again and this time, he saw her.

She was stunning. Her wavy, white-gold hair fell down past her waist and her pale skin shone with an otherworldly glow. The sun seemed to reflect off her as if she was made of glass and the effect left him speechless.

He wasn't sure how long he stood staring at her, but the longer he looked the more perfect she seemed. She was dressed modestly in a long sundress devoid of any pattern but the simplicity only seemed to accentuate her beauty. It fit her figure nicely, showing off her willowy form. Everything about her screamed perfection, from the way her fingers curled around her mug to the way she tossed her head every few seconds to keep the hair out of her eyes.

Then she looked at him. Not just up or in his direction but directly at him. Her eyes were a deep blue, somewhat similar to the uppermost point in the sky just as the sun begins to rise, or the ocean after a storm. Any number of metaphors jumped to his tongue and left just as hastily, all of them insignificant compared to her. Her cheekbones jutted from her face like ridges of ice in Antarctica, and despite how pale her skin was she still seemed warm. She didn't look friendly, necessarily, but compelling.

Charlie had been with girls of all shapes and sizes, from different countries and backgrounds—but this one was different. He didn't just want her. He needed her.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Charlie said, still staring at the girl.

"What!? No! I saw her first." Alex argued, pushing his chest out in an attempt to seem aggressive and dropped his books in the process.

"Really? You were going to talk to her?"

"Why not me?" Alex looked offended.

"Because it's you. When have you ever spoken to a girl? You're always too busy leafing through those books, learning about the past instead of living in the present."

Alex sighed. "Yeah… Well… What else am I supposed to do?" Alex sighed, defeated

"Whatever you want to do. You could go over and talk to that girl, or go to work, or grab your broom and fly to Tokyo. Not everything has to be a huge, world-shattering decision. Sometimes all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

"I thought you didn't want me to talk to that girl though?" Alex frowned.

"I don't. And I know that today, at least, you're going to pick up those books, go to work, and stare at Horntails while you try to work out whether their aggression is caused by an extended medulla oblongata or an ancient curse spanning back thousands of years." Charlie clapped Alex on the back. "That's what you love, and you're good at it. But what I said will make you think, and maybe the next time you see a pretty girl drinking a coffee, you'll have the courage to go over and say, 'Hi, I'm Alex.'"

Alex stayed silent for a few seconds looking from the pile of books on the ground to the girl and then finally back to Charlie. "Yeah, you're right." Alex moved to gather up the books and paper strewn about the street.

"Hold on, let me help you," Charlie said.

The two of them spent a few minutes crawling around on the ground. When they had picked everything up, they looked awkwardly at each other.

"You okay?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah"

"Still mates?"

"Of course we are." Alex smiled.

Charlie smiled back. "Alright then."

Alex groaned. "Why do you always have to be right? It's unbelievably annoying to have to be wrong every time we talk."

"I know." Charlie laughed. "It's my best and worst trait all at once."

Alex shook his head, grinning. The two looked at each other again for a few moments, this time far less awkwardly.

"Right. I'm off then." Alex started walking along again. "Don't worry about Laurentiu , I'll cover for you."

"Cheers mate!" Charlie shouted after him. After Alex raised his hand to acknowledge his thanks, Charlie turned his attention back to the girl sitting in the café who had started to read again.

He moved towards the café but stopped first at a shop window to check his reflection. Shaggy red hair fell around his face, covering the small scar below his ear. The T-shirt he was wearing was tight enough to show off his body without being obvious about it, and the burn mark on his shoulder was hidden. Overall, he thought, he looked dishevelled by choice rather than necessity.

He swaggered over to the girl and moved the hair away from his face so he could see her properly. She looked like a painting: beautiful, cultured and possessing a certain mystical quality he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"What are you reading?" Charlie hoped she couldn't tell that he was trying impossibly hard to still seem cool despite the swarm of butterflies trying to burst through his stomach lining. The girl didn't react at all, seeming for all intents and purposes to not hear him.

"It's that good, huh?" Charlie said, a little louder this time.

Yet again the girl didn't react, merely taking a sip of her drink and turning the page of her book.

He wondered if she was deaf, or if maybe the volume of the markets was drowning him out. He chose to ignore the possibility that she was simply ignoring him.

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked as he reached towards her.

All of a sudden she slammed her book shut and glared at him. "What?" she asked in a thick Romanian accent. "Can't you see that I'm trying to read?"

Charlie flinched, taken aback by her hostility. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to come over and say hi."

"You did that already. I highly doubt that's the only reason you wanted to come over here."

Not to be dissuaded, Charlie tried again. "Well, yes, I suppose there's another reason. Could I perhaps join you for a drink? I've heard the coffee here is excellent."

"It is. And there are several empty tables. Perhaps you should try one of those." She returned to her book.

Charlie bit his lip. "Yes, but if I'm at an empty table, we won't be able to enjoy each other's company."

"Which is exactly why you should try one." She sighed, without looking up from her page.

"Oh, you're funny. I like that." Charlie took the seat opposite her.

The girl exhaled audibly and closed her book before glaring at Charlie. "Would you also like it if I slapped you across the face right now?" She said it through clenched teeth, and Charlie was reminded quite suddenly of the venomous fangs Alex had been talking about.

"Well, if that's what you're into then I'll happily give it a go," he said. "We'd need a safe word, though."

"How about ass? That'd suit you perfectly."

"That's a terrible safe word. If we were in bed, I'd start talking about yours and we'd constantly have to stop." He winked at her.

"What a shame that would be." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"You know, I'm starting to get a sense that you're not into me."

"Really? Whatever gave you that idea?".

"Well, it was a number of things really." Charlie leaned back in his chair "The general atmosphere of hostility, the asking me to leave, the lack of effort into planning our upcoming intimacies. . . . " He paused to grin at her as she rolled her eyes. "Although there are obviously a few signs pointing to the contrary."

"Which are?" The girl asked, curious despite herself.

"Firstly," he said, leaning forward to stare at her, "you could cut the sexual tension here with a knife."

She wrinkled her nose.

"Plus you can't keep your eyes off my rippling muscles." He teased, flexing his bicep.

She rolled her eyes and looked away, but he thought he caught a faint smile playing on her features. "Anything else?"

Charlie looked straight at her. "Well, you're still here aren't you?" he said, sitting back looking smug.

"Hm." The girl stood up suddenly.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving." Her eyes seemed darker now, almost black.

"Why? I was only—"

"I'm not going to sit next to some pig like you." She stormed off.

Charlie quickly scrambled to his feet. "How am I a pig?"

She didn't reply. She just continued walking briskly away from him, so he ran after her. The crowd seemed to part before her and close immediately afterwards, and he soon lost sight of her amongst all the people. He kept going in the direction he hoped she was heading. All of a sudden, the crowd thinned out, and Charlie found himself alone in a courtyard with a fountain in the centre and tall plants all around the edge.

He must have stumbled upon some private estate. He looked around, hoping to see the girl. He had no such luck.

"Damn!" He tried to kick a stone into the fountain and watched it sailed to the left and landed in a bush. He sat down on the edge of the fountain. Resting his head in his hands, he thought back over the conversation. He had no idea what he had done wrong. Maybe she'd just had a bad experience with guys feeding her lines to try and get with her—which, admittedly, was exactly what he had been trying to do. With a groan, Charlie angrily leant back, forgetting he was sitting on a fountain. He fell backwards, causing a splash that soaked the patio around him. Cursing under his breath, he climbed out and shook his head in an attempt to dry his hair.

As he pushed his wet hair out of his eyes, he saw the girl he had chased walking past the courtyard, back towards the café. "Finally! Some luck." He got up to follow her. "Hey!"

She turned her head to look at him. Her expression quickly turned from one of surprise to one of frustration. "Oh for Merlin's sake, it's you again. Why won't you leave me alone?"

"Look, I just wanted to apolo—" But Charlie had taken a few steps toward her, and his foot slipped on the wet stones. He flew into the girl, taking them both to the ground and ending up with his limbs tangled in hers and his head in her chest.

"What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?"

"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry." Charlie squirmed frantically, trying to get off her. The girl pushed him away with surprising strength, and he skidded back into the fountain. He looked back up towards her, intending to apologise.

What he saw left him speechless.

Before his eyes, the girl was transforming. Her once-beautiful face morphed into that of an eagle. Her cheekbones merged with her lips to become a cruel beak, and long, scaly wings burst from her back. She glared at him with beady avian eyes and she paced towards him as fire started coiling around her hands. She raised her hands and threw a fireball at him as he dived back into the fountain. The fire sizzled out on the water.

She was a Veela! Charlie wanted to slap himself in the face. No wonder he had been so captivated. Alex had studied Veela obsessively last year. They were impossibly beautiful women as long as they were calm, but they turned into vicious harpies when angered—and this girl had definitely been angered.

She threw another fireball at him but this time, he whipped out his wand and extinguished the fire magically. If she was surprised at his ability to cast spells she didn't show it.

The harpy screeched and sprinted towards him throwing a barrage of flaming balls at him, most of which he was able to extinguish—caring for dragons had prepared him well for this. A few fireballs hit him, setting him alight, and so for a third time, he dived into the fountain. He threw a jinx at the harpy before clambering out of the fountain and sprinting out of the courtyard. Although a few fireballs chased him out of the courtyard, the harpy did not.

After a while, Charlie slowed down. He could hear the harpy's shrieks in the distance. They seemed faint, and he reasoned that he was safe enough here. He slumped up against the wall of a nearby house.

"Hey, Charlie!"

Charlie looked up to see Alex standing over him with a humongous grin on his face.

"What's so funny?"

Alex looked Charlie up and down. "Date went well then?" He laughed.

Charlie looked down at himself: soaking wet, T-shirt burned through in a few places arms covered in ash. He couldn't imagine how ridiculous he must have looked to Alex. He burst out laughing, and Alex joined him.

"Did you know?" Charlie asked between peals of laughter.

"That she was a Veela?" Alex let out a snort and nodded. "Studied them all last year, didn't I? I know the signs."

"You know something, Alex?" Charlie said, wiping tears from his eyes

"What?"

"Sometimes I really dislike you."

Alex only laughed harder.


End file.
